Joseph Parker admits he’d be willing to put his friendship aside with Tyson Fury for a future heavyweight showdown.
Parker was ringside to witness Fury’s defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in May and will likely be in Riyadh again on December 21 to see if he can gain revenge over the Ukrainian.
Should ‘The Gypsy King’ emerge victorious and rip away the WBA, WBC and WBO belts and Parker captures the IBF title from Daniel Dubois on February 22, the New Zealander insists he would have no issues with facing Fury in what would be an undisputed title clash.
“If Tyson beats Usyk,” the 32-year-old told DAZN.
“Like I want to fight the best in the world.
“And if he beats Usyk, he’s the best in the world.
“He’s a great friend of mine, but I will fight anyone and everyone to be the best, because I know I’m the best.”
Fury has previously dismissed a meeting with Parker, a long-time friend and training partner.
A further obstacle would appear to be the fact that both men share the same trainer in former middleweight world champion, Andy Lee.
Parker heads into his showdown with Dubois, unbeaten in five bouts, including victories over Zhilei Zhang and Deontay Wilder.
With the opportunity to become a two-time heavyweight world champion, Parker insists his motivation is far greater than when he first became heavyweight champion in 2016.
“I had the chance to fight for the championship of the world when I was 24-years-old in 2016,” he told Fox Sports Australia.
“As a fighter, the dream is to fight for the championship of the world.
“I’ve done that once, but to get the second opportunity to do it again, I feel like this is going to be different.
“I’m a lot more mature as a fighter, as a person, as a father.
“The motivation is different, I’m more disciplined and I’m hungry to be two-time world champion and that’s a goal of mine.
“I’ve got the opportunity now and I’m going to take it with both hands.”
